Affordable Splendor

 Today's topic has to do with home decor - or maybe it's more about making what looks like nothing into *something*.    I remember my first apartment.  It was small and bland.  The refrigerator was very small and turquoise.  Yes, turquoise!   There were very few cabinets to store things in.  The bedroom was large enough for a queen bed, but adding dressers and side tables made it very very crowded.  The closet couldn't have been much either, because I don't remember it.  (lol)   The bathroom was also bland - white porcelain fixtures, white walls and dingy white linoleum.  

For some reason, when I saw the apartment for the first time, I loved it.  And in my mind's eye, I had visions of grandeur!  We bought a couch, had a little TV that was set in the corner.  We had a beat up kitchen table and four chairs.  Because the kitchen/dining space was so small, the table was always pushed up against the walls in the corner.  We didn't make it a habit to eat at the dining table anyways.   I found a rickety DIY wooden plant stand that I used in the living room as shelving rather than holding plants.  It worked well enough. 

In the bathroom, I decided more color was needed to I got some green (yes, green!) paint and using a rectangle shaped sponge, I sponged a pattern of bricks on one wall.  I thought it was FAB!  (This was 1979, by the way)  

Every time I moved into a new home, I always created these visions in my head that somehow never turned out as grand as I imagined them.  Mostly because I was always on a budget.  But I must admit that I'm a rather handy type person and DIY is doable for me.  

What makes us want to live up to these fashionable ideas that are planted in our minds from magazines or DIY shows?  Why do we want to recreate what's been done or what's current?  It's my own opinion that when decorating or redecorating our homes, we should stick to our authentic selves.  We should find a color scheme that pleases us, not going with the current fad.   If I stuck with current fads, my living room would be grey instead of a warm beige-y offwhite called Navajo White.  And I might not have painted the metal lamp in the corner turquoise.  But I did.  And I like it!  It started out as a brown-bronze boring standing lamp.  And now when you walk in, it is a very glossy turquoise!   

Being an amateur (very amateur) photographer, I also did something else that was kind of ... different.  I hung a 36" wide stripe of burlap along one wall.  On it I hung photos that are framed in many different frames that I picked up at Goodwill.  I spray painted most of them off-white, but there are snatches of turquoise in there as well.  It's an overall eclectic bunch of different things, but for me, it works.  And I get to enjoy, and show off, my photographic achievements.  Finding frames was a challenging and yet very fun hunt.  It took several trips to Goodwill.... but I digress.

We should create our living spaces in a way that feels right to us, comfortable to us.  I've had several people remark on my photo wall, and it makes me smile.  People take time to look at each one; most represent a point in my life, a good memory, family, you get the idea. 

So the next time you come across a great find, something that you can make work in your home, don't second guess yourself with the latest trends.  Be your authentic self.  "The most important thing about decorating is the fun of it!" 

(this is about a third of the wall, it's 12 feet long!)

The Scented Home

 The power of scents is incredibly different for everyone.  Because the olfactory nerve is directly lined to the area of the brain that accesses memory recall, mood and emotions -- scent is closely tied to memory.  Because of this, what smells good to you doesn't necessarily smell good to another person.

A lot is said about how your home smells, and we have all have something that help us create smells.  Essential oil misters, scented wax melters, good old Febreeze, or even the old standard Lysol.  Nothing matches the smell of "clean", but these new modern scent products can be good, too.

But what is it that makes one smell better than the other?  It's the association we have between our memories and the scent.  It's like how the smell of fresh cut lumber reminds me of my Dad.  And if I could find a melted wax scent for lumber, I'd buy all of it!  Or the smell of freshly baked bread.  My mom used to make home made buns, and when they're baking, it smells like heaven.  In my own home, I have a wax melter and prefer the scent called "Pacific Coast Highway".  I think the base of eucalyptus brings back thoughts of the Santa Clara Valley where I grew up. 

There are other wonderful smells that we each hold dear -- the smell of fresh cut grass, or the smell of a field of hay after a summer storm.  Here in the desert, a summer rain has it's own different smell, and I've come to enjoy walking out and taking a deep breath full of the different aromas.  Of course, there are scents we probably don't enjoy as well:  a dead skunk can leave your car full of a horrible aroma, the smell of a wet dog, or burnt toast.  If you pay attention to scents, sometimes wonderful memories will flood your mind. 

We're all so busy in our lives outside our home that when we finally do arrive home, it's nice to walk in to be surrounded by things that are familiar, warm and reassuring.  Our days at home can be full of fragrant moments once we savor the romance of scented rooms.